Israel's operational commercial multi-spectral infrared countermeasures (C-Music) – or "Sky Shield" – system has been installed on a passenger aircraft for the first time since gaining approval from the national civil aviation authority.
The work was carried out by Israel Aerospace Industries, after the installation of series production systems was green-lit following a successful ground-based test conducted earlier this year and the processing of data collected from a system installed on an El Al Boeing 737.
Elbit Systems
Tests of the Sky Shield were conducted with an El Al Boeing 737
Elbit Systems' Elop unit developed the C-Music family of directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) solutions – which is intended to protect aircraft against heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles under all operational conditions – in response to the growing threat of unmanned systems.
Initial detection of an incoming threat is provided by a missile warning system. This activates the DIRCM equipment, which acquires and tracks the missile before firing a laser beam at its seeker to direct it away from the aircraft.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
